Chilean legends: La Pincoya

 





She appears as a young and very beautiful woman with long blond hair. Unlike the Chilote mermaid (who has a fish tail), she has a completely human appearance. Legend has it that she appears from the depths of the sea, half-dressed in a seaweed costume, to dance on the beaches, and that, through the direction of her dance, she signals whether fishing will be plentiful or scarce in the coming season.

When she performs her dance facing out to sea, it means that fish and shellfish will be abundant. On the other hand, if she performs it with her face toward the beach, it indicates that fish and shellfish will be scarce. If the shortage persists due to the absence of the Pincoya, it is possible to bring her back through a magical ceremony involving witches or machis.

When islanders are shipwrecked, the Pincoya comes to their aid. Sometimes fishermen see her among the rocks combing her long, reddish or blond hair. Her companion, like a brother or husband, is the Pincoy.

The Pincoya is equivalent, although more widely represented, to the Nereid or Nymph of the European seas; in another sense, to Diana, the Roman goddess of the fertility of the earth and of fecundity in general; to Ceres and the Egyptian goddess Isis, who represent the generative and fertilizing power of Nature.

conclusion What can be defined through the legend of the pincoya that it is a young and very beautiful woman and in respectively together with my partner Sebastian we have developed some curiosity about this being with completely human appearance because it is not normal to see a human woman coming out of the depths of the sea in a dance style signaling if there is good fishing or bad fishing.

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